Newport 2.5 Detour

The 2007 Newport 2.5 Detour takes the standard Newport 2.5 shape and fuses it with what the maker's page calls Detour technology, a design theory built around promoting the arc-shaped putting path. It's a conventional Newport silhouette carrying a non-conventional idea underneath it, and that combination is the whole point of the release.

The face is aluminum, wrapped in a vibration-dampening elastomer cushion, and set behind a flowing Santa Fe style neck. The maker's page lists a removable stainless steel backweight that lets a single head work across varying shaft lengths, triangulating balance for what it describes as high MOI weight distribution and increased sweet spot area. A 2-degree high toe on the topline and a stepless shaft round out the maker's listed spec, the latter offered for a cleaner look at address and, per the maker, positive feel and feedback.

Cosmetically this one announces itself. The extended sightline runs orange, straight for the first inch before curving, a visual cue tied directly to that arc-path design theory rather than decoration for its own sake. It's matched to an orange Studio Design grip, an orange shaftband, and an orange headcover, so the color scheme is consistent head to grip to cover.

Set against the rest of the Newport 2.5 line, the Detour reads as the variant built specifically around arc-path putting rather than a straight-back-straight-through stroke, with the aluminum face and elastomer cushion giving it a softer, more cushioned feel than a milled face insert would.